Visconteo Castle (Locarno)

Visconteo Castle
	Castello Visconteo, west side
Alternative name (s):	Castello di Locarno, Locarno Castle
Creation time :	12-16 century
Castle type :	Niederungsburg
Conservation status:	received in parts
Place:	Locarno
Geographical location	46 ° 10 '4.7 " N , 8 ° 47' 36.1" E Coordinates: 46 ° 10 '4.7 " N , 8 ° 47' 36.1" E ; CH1903: 704,628 / 113848
Height:	205 m above sea level M.

The Castello Visconteo is a low castle in Locarno in the Swiss canton of Ticino . It is located at 205 m above sea level. M. on rocky ground on the western edge of the old town.

The Castello and the municipal Museo civico e archeologico with its archaeological collection in the castle are cultural assets of national importance .

history

A first castle possibly already existed in 866; At that time, Emperor Ludwig II gave the "corte regia" (the royal court) of Locarno to his wife Engelberga. In the conflict between Ghibellines and Guelphs , the castle was conquered and destroyed by the Ghibellines in 1260. At that time it served as the residence of the “Capitanei di Locarno”, the Orelli, who switched to the side loyal to the emperor. In 1342 the Visconti from Milan took the castle from the land and sea side. Under their rule (1342–1439) the complex was reinforced by massive walls and served as a bulwark for the entire upper Verbano basin. The castle was repeatedly expanded by the Rusca, who received the city and the castle as a fief in 1439. It finally got the appearance of a "princely castle". Since the Visconti and the Sforza increasingly distrusted the Rusca, they installed a castellan in the "Rocca", the older part of the castle. A garrison of 200 men was not considered sufficient to defend the castle towards the end of the 15th century. The Rusca continued to live in the representative palazzo .

In 1499 the facility was occupied by French troops. The basis for a bulwark built between 1499 and 1512 in the northeast of the complex could be a design by Leonardo da Vinci . In 1513 the castle came into the possession of the Swiss provisionally and in 1516 in the Eternal Peace. From 1513 to 1798 the castle served as the seat of the federal governors . In 1531–1532 large parts of the fortifications were razed as maintenance was considered too expensive. In addition to the bulwark mentioned, a part of the battlements and two residential wings at right angles to each other have been preserved. The fortified port immediately in front of the castle had to be excavated in 1485 and 1486, but it continued to silt up and was finally abandoned in 1535 or relocated to the eastern edge of the city.

In 1803 the Palazzo became the administration building of the newly founded Canton of Ticino; later private apartments were set up in the castle. In 1921 it came into the possession of the city, after which it was extensively renovated under the direction of the painter Edoardo Berta from 1921 to 1928 "in the spirit of the New Middle Ages and the Neo-Renaissance ". The Museum of History and Archeology then moved into rooms in the castle. In September 2017, a new section of the permanent exhibition was opened, which recognizes the importance of the city for the Reformation and the appointment of Locarno as the “ Reformation City of Europe ”.

Building

East side of the castle with the palazzo and remains of the wall

The buildings that are preserved today only make up about the fifth part of the entire former complex. Its appearance goes back to a reconstructive renovation from 1921 to 1928.

Fortifications on the south side, the wall with a battlement from the Visconti era and the round corner tower in the south-west have been preserved. The swallowtail pinnacles , machiculi and loopholes are characteristic of this area ; A preserved piece of the moat is in front of the complex.

The castle courtyard is bordered to the west and south by two Renaissance style palazzi , to the east by the mighty base of a tower (on which the Casorella mansion was built in the late 16th century ) and on the mountain side by remains of the battlements. One of the two residential wings was probably built by Count Franchino Rusca; the other is an older building extended by Giovanni Rusca.

To the east, the castle opens today to the former port; the walls of the buildings that used to stand here have been torn down, but you can still see some preserved foundation walls. The area of the medieval port is now built over with an important arterial road; In the pedestrian underpass there are some remains that date back to the 13th to 15th centuries.

The «Rivellino» bastion on the northeast corner, ascribed to da Vinci, is privately owned, and the city's intentions to acquire it failed in 2010.

museum

Exhibit from the Bronze Age

The archaeological museum is known for its significant collection of Roman glass ; It is supplemented by other exhibits from the Roman and Bronze Ages . As a cultural asset, the collection has the same status as the castle that houses it. Two further sections are devoted to the 1925 Peace Conference and the Locarno Treaties and the Reformation .

The museum is closed from November to March and is not barrier-free. It is to be expanded or rebuilt.

literature

Art guide through Switzerland. Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History. Volume 2. Bern 2005, p. 600 f.
Elfi Rüsch, Riccardo Carazzetti: Locarno. The castle and the Casorella (= Swiss Art Guide. Series 72, No. 711). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GKS. Bern 2002, ISBN 3-85782-711-4 (Italian original ibid 2001).

Web links

Commons : Castello Visconteo, Locarno - collection of images, videos and audio files

Complesso del Castello Visconteo in the cultural property protection inventory with objects of national importance, KGS-DS-No. 5507.
Official website of the Museo civico e archeologico (Italian) at locarno.ch/it/servizi-culturali
Castello Visconteo (Locarno) on the ETHorama platform
Castle world: Castello di Locarno (Castello Visconteo) . (German)
Portrait on swisscastles.ch

Individual evidence

↑ Complesso del Castello Visconteo in the inventory of cultural property protection with objects of national importance, KGS-DS-No. 5507.
^ Category "A" in the inventory of cultural property protection with objects of national importance, KGS-DS-No. 11788.
↑ Art guide through Switzerland. Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History. Volume 2. Bern 2005, p. 600.
↑ Elfi Rüsch, Riccardo Carazzetti: Locarno. The castle and the Casorella (= Swiss Art Guide. Series 72, No. 711). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GKS. Bern 2002, p. 7.
↑ Elfi Rüsch, Riccardo Carazzetti: Locarno. The castle and the Casorella (= Swiss Art Guide. Series 72, No. 711). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GKS. Bern 2002, p. 7 f.
↑ Elfi Rüsch, Riccardo Carazzetti: Locarno. The castle and the Casorella (= Swiss Art Guide. Series 72, No. 711). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GKS. Bern 2002, p. 12 and passim.
↑ Museo civico e archeologico (Italian, accessed December 9, 2017)

[1] Complesso del Castello Visconteo in the inventory of cultural property protection with objects of national importance, KGS-DS-No. 5507.

[2] Category "A" in the inventory of cultural property protection with objects of national importance, KGS-DS-No. 11788.

[3] Art guide through Switzerland. Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History. Volume 2. Bern 2005, p. 600.

[4] Elfi Rüsch, Riccardo Carazzetti: Locarno. The castle and the Casorella (= Swiss Art Guide. Series 72, No. 711). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GKS. Bern 2002, p. 7.

[5] Elfi Rüsch, Riccardo Carazzetti: Locarno. The castle and the Casorella (= Swiss Art Guide. Series 72, No. 711). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GKS. Bern 2002, p. 7 f.

[6] Elfi Rüsch, Riccardo Carazzetti: Locarno. The castle and the Casorella (= Swiss Art Guide. Series 72, No. 711). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GKS. Bern 2002, p. 12 and passim.

[7] Museo civico e archeologico (Italian, accessed December 9, 2017)